President Bush Wants to Pass Global Warming Initiative

President Bush may ask Congress to consider legislation to combat global warming as early as this week. An unmanageable web of US regulatory law, as well as upcoming meetings with world powers, has motivated Bush to take action.
Currently businesses must follow three pieces of complex legislation: the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Clean Air Act. Apparently, Bush wants to make it easier for corporations to assess and uphold what is required of them. But, according to the Washington Times, some Congressional Republicans fear runaway legislation and think Bush is making a mistake.

A debate in Congress about global warming will likely heat up in June, prior to the G-8 conference in July. We might get a preview this week, as US officials will be in Paris to meet with other world economic powers. All three presidential candidates want to increase action by the federal government. Specifically, they all endorse a cap-and-trade system similar to Europe's. It is unlikely that Bush wants to go that far, but it is still unclear what he has in mind.

What action would you like to see the US federal government take to cut greenhouse emissions and combat global warming? Do we need to streamline regulations to save the planet?

I voted for this President twice because he convinced us he was a Reagan conservative! But he has turned out to be a wishy washy coward who only cares about globalism and his legacy! Now he is going to try again to appease those who hate him now and will always hate him! We will lose more liberty for his legacy! Yay!

There's enough oil to last 200 years and enough coal to last 300-400 years.
We're not "running out" any time soon.
And there remains no actual tangible evidence of human causation of the 20th century warming (which is the accurate term since it hasn't warmed since 1998).

Carbon dioxide, which is the most abundant greenhouse gas (responsible for climate change) is a pollutant anyway. It's not a good idea to drastically alter the environment we've been living in. The consequences of this are just... You only need some basic understanding to figure out that this kind of messing around with atmospheric composition is not a good idea, no matter the impact on the climate. We're messing up the air that we and every other organism on the planet exists in, and not just the air, but the oceans and soil are absorbing it too.
As for Bush, if he's trying to get through any legislation, it's probably to prevent stronger legislation from being passed further down the line. Nobody's fooled. I realize there are still a lot of people in the U.S. who don't think this is much of an issue, but most of the rest of the rich countries' populations have known and been worried about this long before Al Gore's movie. There has been a lot of money spent in the U.S. and political maneuvering to play it down, and this has not happened elsewhere... Not getting on board with this will make things harder for the country in the long run. Fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) are getting more and more expensive and the supply will keep dwindling. To continue to rely on them for energy makes any and every country that does so vulnerable.

I agree with Cine. While a minority of people still refute the existence of climate change, whether it's caused by man is yet to be seen and will probably never be conclusively proven. Those who question the cause of climate change are much greater in numbers than those who question its existence.
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It is not about not believing in Global warming. It is about not rushing and making rash decisions. And many people believe global warming is occurring but do not believe that humans are the cause, that there are other factors such as cyclical weather. If this is the case, then there is little that humans can do. Now I am not saying that we should be doing whatever we want and destroying our planet, just want to make that clear.
"Not to mention that if you are a Christian and believe that God created the Earth, then why wouldn't you want to protect what God gave you? Why wouldn't you want to make sure it is not harmed?"
Since when do Christians not care for the Enviroment? I am confused.

Those are very good comments Ekaterina. But tell me, why is it our fault. There are so many other factors going on, and I've not heard any scientist really address them without resorting to "well, if you don't understand, you never will." or "I got my PHD, and you should just believe what I say without argument." There are many PHD's who predicted that the hurricanes would be worse because of GCC, but now many of those same PHD's are saying that the correlation between GCC and huricanse may not be what they first thought. I understand that everyone is human, and allowed to make mistakes, but hurricanes was one of those "irrefutable" consequences of GCC. Also, here in Wisconsin, we've had the coldest and wettest winter in almost 30 years (Summer please get here!!). I'm not seeing the effects of GCC that everyone keeps telling me about.

Um those who don't believe that global warming is an issue NEED TO WAKE UP. I know an oceanographer who has done extensive research on global warming and he's highly, highly respected. Spent his entire life around the globe. I've only ever listened to HIM on the crisis and he has told us numerous times that we are dangerously close to the point of no return, that the latest data is beyond scary. That people don't seem to realize that the effects are already underway. You have to be insane not to realize how damaging the polar ice caps melting is. We live in an eco-system. Every life form is connected. You kill off one, the rest suffer. He also points out that any scientist that claims that global warming is a non-issue has forfeited his right to be called a scientist.
I will admit that the more serious effects will not be immediate but please tell me why no one seems to care about the world we are leaving behind? The conservatives call themselves the party of family values. How for family values can you really be if you have no concern for whether or not you are leaving your grandchildren a sustainable planet? One only has to look at the spike in childhood asthma cases to realize that our environment is no longer safe.
Not to mention that if you are a Christian and believe that God created the Earth, then why wouldn't you want to protect what God gave you? Why wouldn't you want to make sure it is not harmed?
If you don't believe global warming and climate change exist then fine. Stay outside while the rest of us take cover. You'll be sorry in the end.

First of all, the issue is not just global warming, it is global climate change.
The idea that Bush will do anything that will actually help the environment is laughable. He'll make a big deal out of this & then it will be shoved back on the on the back burner. Neither he nor anyone else in his administration really gives a damn about the environment. Why bother wastling our time pretending he does?

Well. That's not a headline I expected to see. Is someone thinking about legacy exit polls? This is a little transparent, considering his past stance on similar issues and that environmental issues are back in "vogue" again.

"And when it's convenient, they take the jobs away to foreign countries where they can pay workers next to nothing while polluting that country."
And you think by putting more economic pressure on companies that they are going to do this less?
"Well I guess we disagree yet again because our businesses are what fuel the economy and provide jobs... so by protecting them to a reasonable extent you're protecting people."
Totally agree.

Our businesses also cost the economy by polluting the air and the water, making people sick, forcing clean-ups, rendering property unusable for years. And when it's convenient, they take the jobs away to foreign countries where they can pay workers next to nothing while polluting that country. They get all manner of tax breaks, they can follow rules that might benefit the rest of the world.

I would think that clean air and water really take priority over whether some asshole at the top of the food chain has to take a paycut. Oh, right. That doesn't happen. They just pass it down to the consumer.

Businesses get plenty of help from the government, far more so than the average middle class taxpayer. People first, then business. Otherwise, businesses will continue to poison our air and water while complaining that it's so very hard to follow the rules, even with all the lawyers they write them.

A lot of times its not beneficial for the business because its expensive and then that cost gets passed down to the consumer... so no good for the business, no good for the consumer... so who is it benefitting again?